West Long Beach blaze damages building, employees escape

Firefighters remained on scene pouring water on hot spots into the late afternoon at Superior Electrical Advertising in the 1700 block of West Anaheim Street on Tuesday. Long Beach, July 1, 2014. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer)

Firefighters remained on scene pouring water on hot spots into the late afternoon at Superior Electrical Advertising in the 1700 block of West Anaheim Street, on Tuesday. Long Beach, July 1, 2014. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer)

LONG BEACH >> An electrical sign manufacturing facility in an industrial area of western Long Beach was severely damaged in a fire Tuesday, but the 11 employees escaped without injury.

The fire in the 1500 block of West Anaheim Street was reported shortly before 1 p.m., according to Brian Fisk of the Long Beach Fire Department.

He said the fire quickly went to a third alarm, with as many as 45 firefighters on scene. Fire crews went into a defensive mode when the roof began collapsing. The blaze was knocked down in about 30 minutes, although crews remained on the scene throughout the afternoon.

A damage amount was not immediately available and the cause was still under investigation.